Which Side of the Digital Divide Are You On?

YHP author Shelly Palmer tackles the growing disconnect between the digital natives of the Internet generation and those trying to keep up with tweets and tumbles in his book, Overcoming the Digital Divide: How to use Social Media and Digital Tools to reinvent yourself and your career Which side are you on?

“The socio-techno divide is an upward-moving blurry line that defines the boundary between people who “get” digital by osmosis and those who have to deal with the reality that about a third of the current work force doesn’t have a personal reference for the terms “dial the phone” or “sounds like a broken record.”

Are you a member of the TV generation or part of the digital revolution? It’s pretty easy to tell. The “space age” ended circa 1980 as the “information age” began. If you were born before 1980, you are part of the TV generation; if you are younger than that, you are either a digital immigrant or a digital native.

Now, of course there are many variations on this theme. At this writing, I put the practical socio-techno divide between 37 and 40 years old. My reasoning and supporting research are purely “armchair.” If your idea of kicking back after a long day at school was hitting the sofa with a box of Cracker Jacks and a glass of Tang (because that’s what the astronauts drank), you’re a member of the TV generation. If your idea of recreation using a video screen includes coming home and playing a quad-split, first-person shooter on Xbox 360 with friends from around the world, drinking a Red Bull (with or without vodka) while munching on chocolate-covered coffee beans and Doritos (Nacho cheese flavor, so you cover two food groups), you’re probably not a member of the TV generation.”

Check out Shelly’s book to master the tools you need to bridge the digital divide..